Jefferson Davis Highway marker relocated

By David Dixon
[email protected]

ALBANY — An old Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway stone marker in Albany has been relocated to the Confederate Memorial Park’s private property off Philema Road in Dougherty County.

The marker was originally placed on this road when it was part of U.S. Highway 82 (old GA 2) in 1953 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. It was moved from its location on the right-of-way to private property when Dawson Road was widened in 1986. It was supposed to be moved back to the right-of-way when the widening was completed but never was.

This historical road marker is one of many that is protected by the recently passed Georgia Monuments Protection Act of 2019 (OCGA 50-3-1). As the law is now written, it protects all of Georgia’s historical monuments and markers of this kind, wherever they are in the state.

Although there are still many stone markers and new metal signs along U.S. 82 in Georgia and other states as part of segments still designated as the Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway, this was the only one known to be in Albany. There is also a similar stone marker in Tifton.

The private property owners on Dawson Road bought the property in 1985, and though some people saw the marker, they thought it was still on the right-of-way until this year. Few people in Albany knew about the marker, as it was nearly invisible behind a sloping grassy bank. Once brought to the owner’s attention, the owner went about researching the marker and how it might be moved to another location.

The owner consulted with the Georgia DOT in Albany and an official at the city of Albany on properly moving the marker according to the law. Since the location on Dawson Road is no longer a state highway and was on private property, these two organizations had no input into its potential movement. It was left to the Georgia Historical Society to give the final OK to relocate the marker, which was given earlier this year.

The Confederate Memorial Park, which is owned and maintained by the Albany Chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the United Daughters of the Confederacy, agreed to accept the marker. It was relocated Friday morning.

The movement of the marker preserves a part of the state’s history, that once gone, can never be recovered.